San Onofre outage costs: $317 million

Costs connected with problems at the shuttered San Onofre nuclear plant so far have topped $317 million, mostly for the purchase of replacement power, according to a quarterly report from Edison International released Thursday.

The company, parent of plant operator Southern California Edison, said replacement power costs through September were $221 million, and repair and inspection costs $96 million. The replacement power cost takes into account what would have been spent on nuclear fuel.

Both of San Onofre's nuclear reactors have been shut down since January. The Unit 2 reactor was taken offline for routine maintenance, and on Jan. 31, a small leak of radioactive gas prompted the shutdown of Unit 3.

Inspections revealed unexpected wear in steam generator tubes in both reactor units, although the problems were more extensive in Unit 3.

The troubles were traced to design flaws in the four steam generators, two for each reactor, replaced in a $670 million operation between 2009 and early 2011.

Last month, Edison proposed starting the Unit 2 reactor at 70 percent power to eliminate the vibrations believed to have caused the troublesome tube wear.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it could take months to review the plan before deciding whether to approve it.

No plans have been put forward for Unit 3.

Edison Chairman Ted Craver told investors in a conference call Thursday that it was unclear whether the plant could be restored to full power and that “complete replacement of the steam generators would take some years.”

The Edison report also said that in June, the company submitted an invoice to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the manufacturer of the steam generators, for $45 million in steam generator-repair costs.

On Oct. 25, the California Public Utilities Commission voted to investigate the problems at San Onofre and whether customer rates should be adjusted to reflect the long-term outage. The panel will also consider whether Edison customers should receive a rate reduction or rebate for costs related to installation of the steam generators.

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